How To Lead A Youth Group | Post 2 | Establish Identity

2. Establish an Identity.
One of the most important, if not the most important thing for a teen and/or young adult is identity. A foundational part of developing a solid and vibrant youth ministry is to create an identity for your youth group. This can be tricky because we have bought into the idea that youth ministry is basically about slick marketing and advertising savvy. If you hire somebody to design a good logo, or come up with a catchy name you have not developed identity. You have developed a brand.

Branding is good and it can be important, but it's not the same thing as identity. Kids don't wear a certain brand because of the name or the logo, they wear it because it means something, something they can and/or are willing to "identify" with. The brand and logo are secondary to this more important concept: What does your youth ministry "mean"?

Define the ministry not in terms of cool graphics, catchy slogans or nifty logos, but in terms of purpose, value, cultural significance, and community. Is what the name and brand embody big enough? If you boil it all down is their something significant about what your youth ministry is doing other than creating an audience for you to speak to or a large number of teens gathered for bragging rights by you or the congregation you're a part of?

What difference would it make in his/her life or world if a teen decided to buy into your concept? It's got to be about more than coming to your church. If Christianity is about going to church it's not about much.